Good Stuff In TEC: New York

Chaplains create sustainable Christian house

The idea started six months ago, over lunch.

Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows and Rev. Gail Riina were discussing their ideas for different types of living communities, both religious and environmentally friendly, when they realized the two could go hand in hand.

What resulted from the Hendricks Chapel ministers' brainstorm was the Dorset House, a living community centered on a sustainable, Christian-oriented lifestyle, located at 107 Dorset St. near the university.

"As a campus minister, I've seen intentional living communities around the country and thought we could start one in Syracuse," Baskerville-Burrows said.

The house, which is intended to encourage sustainability in a religious context, ended its application process for Syracuse University students to request living quarters Sunday. But since they only received two applications, Baskerville-Burrows said the deadline might be moved back.

This fall, the house will be home to four SU students, who will focus on living eco-friendly lives, while sharing their faith with housemates, Riina said. Rent will cost between $350 and $600 per month, depending on the room.

http://media.www.dailyorange.com/media/storage/paper522/news/2009/02/16/News/Chaplains.Create.Sustainable.Christian.House-3631546.shtml

You can see all of the Good Stuff posts by clicking on Good Stuff in the labels below.

Archbishop of Canterbury: Society is coming round to my views on sharia

From the London Telegraph-

On the anniversary of the interview in which Dr Rowan Williams said it "seems inevitable" that some parts of sharia would be enshrined in this country's legal code, he claimed "a number of fairly senior people" now take the same view.

He added that there is a "drift of understanding" towards what he was saying, and that the public sees the difference between letting Muslim courts decide divorces and wills, and allowing them to rule on criminal cases and impose harsh punishments.
However critics insist that family disputes must be dealt with by civil law rather than according to religious principles, and claim the Archbishop's comments have only helped the case of extremists while making Muslim women worse off, because they do not have equal rights under Islamic law.

The Archbishop, the most senior cleric in the Church of England, faced calls to resign last February when he said it was likely that elements of the religious principles based on the Koran, concerning marriage, finance and conflict resolution, would be enshrined in British legislation one day.

But in July he was supported by Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, who was then the Lord Chief Justice, while it later emerged that five sharia courts are already operating mediation systems under the Arbitration Act, and that the Government allows Islamic tribunals to settle the custody and financial affairs of divorcing couples and send their judgements to civil courts for approval.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/4631128/Archbishop-of-Canterbury-Society-is-coming-round-to-my-views-on-sharia.html

Pittsburgh's Bible Belt rivals South's, scholars say

From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review-

A yarn popular among local preachers tells of a golden phone that puts a call through to heaven for $10,000, but in Pittsburgh that call sets you back just 35 cents.

It's a local call in "God's Country."

The region known for steel is quietly making its mark as a religious stronghold with influence stretching nationwide.

A strong work ethic and conservative religious bent, the legacy of early settlers from Scotland and Ireland, has created a Bible Belt here as strong as that in the South and Midwest, theologians say, but with a personality of its own because Pittsburgh, with its many faiths and nationalities, has a deep religious commitment that spans church spectrums.

(snip)

Pittsburgh this month will host a national convocation of Presbyterian church officials that is the first of its kind for the Presbyterian denomination. The conference will explore the religious freedoms put at risk when civil courts are asked to resolve property disputes that arise in church schisms.

Some of the same issues that drove the splits within the Presbyterian and Episcopalian churches caused the excommunication of the Rev. William Hausen from the Roman Catholic Church. The pull and tug between conservative and liberal factions in the church bothered Hausen, so in 2004, he started his own church.

Hausen, of Sewickley, maintains that the Catholic Church, the largest denomination in the seven-county region with 988,490 members, needs to modernize its positions on issues such as divorce, birth control, ordination of women and celibacy for clergy.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_611801.html

Christ Church members overwhelmed by pastor's affair, resignation

To Christ Church officials, the Rev. Lorne Coyle was a guiding light in their quest for adherence to conservative Biblical views, church leaders say.

Then two weeks ago came the married minister’s admission of an affair — prompted by an out-of-state woman going to Coyle’s Anglican bishop in Virginia.

“It is a shock,” said Christ Church’s lay leader, senior warden Jim Reamy III.

The bishop suspended Coyle, effective Feb. 1, quickly followed by Coyle’s resignation from the church.

The independent church was expanding in the wake of Coyle’s leadership in the congregation’s breaking off from the Episcopal Church — a national denomination that Reamy said strayed from a belief that marriages should only unite a man and a woman.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/feb/14/christ-church-members-overwhelmed-pastors-affair-r/

Good Stuff in TEC: North Carolina

Food collection exceeds expectations

Area Boy Scouts., Cub Scouts, and Explorers spent a good portion of their Saturday gathering up truck loads of food, then distributing the donations to local food pantries.

The effort is known as Scouting for Food and is a stewardship project carried out by the three groups throughout the community.

Empty bags were distributed throughout the area last Saturday. Citizens were asked to fill the bags and leave them on their doorsteps for the scouts to pick up Saturday morning.

“I’m well pleased,” said Boy Scout Troop 538 Scout Master Phillip Hart. “The bags are fuller this year,” he said as he unloaded the food from a truck into the basement of Trinity Episcopal Church.

http://www.mtairynews.com/pages/full_story?page_label=home_top_stories_news&article-Food-collection-exceeds-expectations%20=&id=1956931-Food-collection-exceeds-expectations&widget=push&instance=home_news_lead&open=&

You can see all of the Good Stuff posts by clicking on Good Stuff in the labels below.

All this power has gone to the fist of PC Thug

Update on the kid reading on the chimney in England story. First reported here-

http://3riversepiscopal.blogspot.com/2009/02/church-minister-arrested-on-suspicion.html

From the London Times. (I'm still trying to figure out what the "Open Episcopal Church" is).

There was an arresting picture in the papers last week. It was of an eight-year-old boy perched on the chimney stack above his terraced house in Welling, southeast London, smiling as he read a book. The photograph was taken as an entry for a school competition to show books being read in unusual circumstances. Unfortunately for the boy’s father, Jonathan Blake, a bishop in the Open Episcopal Church, the incident was reported by a neighbour, and Blake’s local police force decided that encouraging a child onto a rooftop was an arrestable offence – one so serious that Blake was arrested, handcuffed and held in police custody for 24 hours, charged with child neglect.

Blake is not a lunatic. He is a mild-mannered, devoted parent. He was encouraging his children to be imaginative and adventurous in response to the school’s challenge. His boys, aged seven and eight, do rock climbing and adventure sports, and on the day they climbed onto the chimney, they were wearing a safety harness and were guided up the roof by him, using secure footholds. The boy in the picture looks happy and proud. The police response has shattered that.

Within an hour of the boys coming off the roof, two fire engines and two vanloads of police roared into the street. Then, says Blake, “all hell broke loose”. Two female police officers asked to see the children, who said they were thrilled by what they had just done. Thirty seconds later, half a dozen male officers burst into the house and – without discussion or questioning – one ordered Blake’s arrest. He was given permission to change, but as he came out of his bathroom, he says a male police officer punched him in the back, twisted his arm behind him and shoved him against a wall, yelling: “We need to handcuff this man – he’s resisting arrest.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5733615.ece

Signs, signs, everywhere signs #7

Romans 12:20

Good Stuff in TEC: Maryland

St. James Episcopal holds e-cycling day

Crossing one more item off his "honey-do" list on Valentine's Day morning, Carman Peltzer lugged old computer monitors, printers, keyboards and processors from his trunk to a nearby trash bin in the parking lot of St. James Episcopal Church.

Peltzer, who retired in October, said he finally had time to tackle the pile of old computer parts in his basement he's been collecting since the mid-1970s.

Peltzer was among half a dozen area residents lined up to take part in an electronics waste collection day at the church.

The church charged participants $20 to cover the expense of recycling older TV screens and $15 to recycle computer monitors. Everything else was free.

Jeannie Pellicier, a church member and volunteer, said members of a St. James environmental stewardship group got the idea of such a collection after learning about the nation's switch from analog to digital television signals.

The switch had been set to take place on Feb. 17, but was delayed by Congress earlier in the month until June 12.

St. James had an electronics waste collection day in January, and about 60 people from three counties showed up to unload old TVs, DVD players, digital scanners, stereos and other items, Pellicier said.

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=86500

You can see all of the Good Stuff posts by clicking on Good Stuff in the labels below.

Bad economy is hurting the collection plate

From the Houston Chronicle-

For weeks now, Matt McCarron has been unable to muster the strength to go to Sunday Mass.
A lifelong Catholic, he’s often found solace in prayer. And though young, he tries to give faithfully for the needs of the church, $20 a week when he was employed full time.

McCarron, 19, lost his job as a machinist last month and is back at the Milwaukee-area pizza joint where he worked in high school. He moved in with his parents to save money.

“I just feel let down,” said McCarron, who’d prayed that God would spare his job and is embarrassed that he can’t support the church the way he’d like. “I’m not sure I can afford even $5. I hate that feeling.”

Like McCarron, many people of faith are struggling, spiritually and financially, as the economy continues to unravel.

Across the religious spectrum, many congregations and faith organizations say giving is flat or down, at a time when the need for services, from food and clothing pantries to housing assistance and spiritual counseling, is skyrocketing.

Few are immune.

“I’m sure the hardest hit are in the central city, but it doesn’t exempt us at all,” said Father John Yockey of St. Jerome Catholic Church in Oconomowoc, Wis., where a drop in weekly donations has left the church $65,000 in the red.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/6262761.html

Finding faith in the wilderness

From the Demver Post-

For Sunday night services of The Wilderness, the high-vaulted ceiling of St. John's Episcopal Cathedral shimmers with purple and green light effects, like an indoor aurora borealis.

Below, dozens of candles flicker near icons in the dark nave. Incense hangs in the air. Congregants can choose to sit in a pew or on thick cushions at the foot of a simple altar. A stringed Moroccan oud gives even traditional songs of praise an exotic twist, but there is also world music, chant and jazz.

"We're using the cathedral in new ways, making it more inviting and even sensual," said the Rev. Peter Eaton. "It's meant to celebrate and bring alive all the human senses. We think that, in metro Denver, there is nothing else like us."

Like Episcopal parishes across the nation, the attendance is dwindling at the cathedral, and Eaton hopes The Wilderness is the ticket for uninspired Protestants, disaffected Catholics and other spiritual seekers who want a more mystical and meditative feeling than what big-box churches or traditional Protestant services provide.
"We have what everybody else is wanting," said Eaton, St. John's dean and rector. "We have the theological depth and breadth of a 2,000-year-old spiritual tradition. . . . Yet we also have exploration of new language and religious experience."

http://www.denverpost.com/technology/ci_11707039

What will Twittering bishops do for their next trick?

From the Londodn Telegraph-

Given that they follow the teachings of someone who lived 2,000 years ago, revere a book filled with "thou shalt nots" and worship in some of the country's oldest buildings, one could be forgiven for assuming that Church of England bishops are not keen on all things new and fashionable.

Certainly there are some innovations they resist, most notably in the vexed areas of human sexuality and equality of opportunity for women.

But when it comes to new technology and embracing the power of the internet to get their message across, they are getting surprisingly close to the cutting-edge.

Not that long ago I treated a text message from an Anglican primate as a real novelty.

But now we've got blogging bishops by the dozen, Facebook groups for all denominations and even the Pope has a YouTube channel. The appointment of the new Bishop of St Albans has already been announced on the video-sharing website, and it seems increasingly likely that a film clip of white smoke emanating from the Vatican will herald the next pontiff.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/martinbeckford/blog/2009/02/13/what_will_twittering_bishops_do_for_their_next_trick

Mixed reaction to Anglican Primates' Meeting

LIBERALS and conservatives have voiced mixed reactions to the Alexandria letter to the church from the 2009 Primates’ Meeting. Pressure groups on the left and right have reacted with dismay to the centrist approach taken by the document, while primates on both sides of the political spectrum have endorsed the document.

On Feb 5 US Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told a reporter from the Episcopal News Service that she was encouraged by the tone of the communiqué. However, the call for continued “gracious restraint” made by the primates would have to be addressed by the General Convention in July.
Debrief on the primates meeting from last week-

“We are going to have to have honest conversations about who we are as a church and the value we place on our relationships and mission opportunities with other parts of the Communion and how we can be faithful with many spheres of relationship at the same time," she said.

"That is tension-producing and will be anxiety-producing for many, but we are a people that live in hope, not in instant solutions but in faithfulness to God,” the Presiding Bishop added.

Conservative primates gave the agreement high marks. “Archbishop Peter Akinola is pleased, I’m pleased, my brother Henry [Orombi] is pleased” with the outcome of the meeting, Bishop Venables told The Church of England Newspaper on Feb 5.

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=3856

When it comes to layoffs, lay on the thanks

I held the door for a neighbor. She breezed through without a word of thanks.

No eye contact. No acknowledgment. No gratitude. Just an attitude of entitlement, a princess on parade.

As the economy crumbles and millions lose their jobs, this scenario happens again and again. The enterprise stumbles, and loyal employees are shown the door without a hint of gratitude.
Some are marched off the premises by security guards, lest they sabotage, say, the computer network. It is humiliating, and it brands the fired employee as unstable, a problem to be managed, certainly not a person deserving respect.

Some receive impersonal notices telling them not to report for duty on Monday; they're no longer needed. It's time for "lean and mean," and sloths must go. Or so goes the implied message.

Higher-ups get golden parachutes and severance packages and don't face the same economic peril as paycheck-to-paycheck wage earners. Even so, they experience the same cold conversations and lawyer-designed exit interviews.

On their way out the door, they sense the same averted eyes, shunned handshakes and thinly disguised relief that the one's going enables the other's staying.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090214/LIVING09/902140380/1111/LIVING09

Friday General Synod Report

A report on the activities of General Synod for Friday-

here-

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/gsfeb130209am.html

Report on Diana Butler Bass talk in Fort Worth

A report on growth in mainline denominations-

Bass has written extensively, and with some optimism, about the mainline Protestant churches. She was recently in Fort Worth for a talk sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth (the area churches loyal to the Episcopal Church, as opposed to the churches that have left TEC but continue to call themselves the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth) and Brite Divinity School. Here's a report from the Episcopal group:

Speaking at an event sponsored by The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth and Brite Divinity School, Dr. Diana Butler Bass debunked the myth that only evangelical and Pentecostal churches are growing. Nationally recognized scholar, speaker and author of Christianity for the Rest of Us, Dr. Butler spoke to an enthusiastic audience of over 125 people, including newly elected Provisional Bishop Ted Gulick.

The common denominator of thriving mainline congregations, she said, is their decision to adopt spiritual practices. Vital congregations generally embrace three or four several spiritual practices that reflect the needs and gifts of the congregation. Typically, those practices include theological reflection, hospitality, contemplation, and embracing diversity.

http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/02/report-on-diana-butler-bass-ta.html

General Convention legislative committee chairs announced

Legislative chairpersons for this summer's 76th General Convention in Anaheim have been announced.

According to the Bishop and Deputy Handbook:

Legislative committees are appointed. The President of the House of Deputies appoints the deputies. The Presiding Bishop appoints the bishops. A Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary are designated for each committee by the Presiding Officers.

In the House of Deputies the appointment process begins when each diocese notifies the General Convention Office of the election of its deputies and alternates. Data sheets containing committee preferences are collected from each deputy and are used in the appointment process.

The list of committee chairs is as follows:

http://www.episcopalcafe.com/lead/general_convention/general_convention_legistlativ.html

Church hires PR firm to get more worshippers in the pews

A CHURCH in London’s deprived East End has hired a top public relations outfit to boost its image and pack more worshippers into the pews.

The Elders of St Paul’s Anglican in Shadwell have appointed Gateway Media to run their promotions.

There was even a hard-fought competitive tender process before Gateway could seal the deal with the growing congregation of 300.

The agency, part of City Gateway social enterprise charity, beat the competition on a wing and a prayer through its local knowledge, being based in the East End itself not far from the church.

“We thought their work was creative and were impressed,” said St Paul’s curate Adam Atkinson.

“They’re a similar organisation to us, working with the people of Tower Hamlets with their social enterprise and their links with City Gateway local charity.”

The agency ran a strong media presentation put together by their graphic design, video production and web development team.

http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/content/towerhamlets/advertiser/news/story.aspx?brand=ELAOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsela&itemid=WeED12%20Feb%202009%2019%3A51%3A20%3A640

Archbishop Sentamu reflects on implication of the financial crisis

Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu (shown in a hat the rivals Katharine's) comments on the financial crisis and the state of the world.

The Anglican Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, yesterday highlighted the significance of the world financial crisis and discussed the implications for ministry for those struggling with the practical consequences of the downturn in the economy.

Reflecting on the need for active solidarity, Dr Sentamu said: "We have heard the predictions. This slough of economic despond is deep and we are told it will get deeper. For every statistic on the hundreds of jobs lost, there are hundreds of stories of individual hardship and of families in need. Their struggle must be our lament as we face up to our responsibilities.

He said: "England, you think you've got problems? It's time to get real.

"We live in a world where:

· a child dies every three seconds due to extreme poverty, almost 10 million children a year.

· One person dies from HIV/Aids every 11 seconds.

· Approximately 1 in 7 children in the world 270 million children have no access to healthcare.

· Every single day unsafe water coupled with a lack of basic sanitation kills 5,000 children.

· Poor Governance, in countries such as Zimbabwe, has led to malnutrition, a crumbling health system and the outbreak of avoidable diseases, like cholera, claiming thousands of lives in Zimbabwe."

Dr Sentamu explained that the challenge for the Church is both to engage with policy makers and to stand alongside those at the sharp end of the financial crisis.

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/sentm435.html

Spring preview: Pirates' top 10 issues

My beloved if hapless Pirates open spring training today with pitchers and catchers reporting to camp. For you soccer fans out these, pitchers and catchers are always the first to report in. From the Post-Gazette-

A new spring dawns today for the 123rd edition of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club, with pitchers and catchers required to report to Bradenton by midnight tonight. And with it will come a stated expectation -- too nebulous, too low or too optimistic, some might say -- that these Pirates will "improve" over their standard 67-win output of a year ago.

So spoke owner Bob Nutting last month, and so it was echoed down the corporate ladder.

The charge, then, for manager John Russell and his staff in the six-week camp that formally opens with a Pirate City workout tomorrow is this: Take essentially the same group that collapsed to a 17-37 finish last season -- meaning the group that was left in the aftermath of the Jason Bay/Xavier Nady trades -- and make them, somehow, better.

That, Russell is adamant, can come not only from instruction but also from natural improvement.

"We have young players, a lot of them, guys who haven't spent much time in the big leagues," Russell said. "And we have faith in them. It's a good group. And I'm excited about this season, to be honest with you."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09044/948793-63.stm

In England, Anglican covenant debate reveals mixed expectations

From Episcopal Life On Line-

Members of the Church of England's General Synod have signaled their overall support for an Anglican covenant but remain divided on how much authority or influence it should marshal in the communion's 38 provinces.

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali of the Diocese of Rochester told the church's main legislative body February 12 that the covenant "is one way of ensuring that the common life of the communion is healthy and effective."

In the past, the Anglican Communion "has been held together by a common history, similar … ways of worship and the so-called 'bonds of affection,'" he said. "In a rapidly globalizing world and a fast-developing communion, these are no longer enough."

Nazir-Ali was introducing a motion that synod "do take note" of a Church of England report that responds to the latest draft (St. Andrew's Draft) of the Anglican covenant.

"The main purpose of the covenant is inclusion rather than exclusion," Nazir-Ali said. "We cannot forget, nevertheless, that these questions have arisen for us because of the need for adequate discipline in the communion on matters which affect everyone."

http://www.episcopal-life.org/79901_105016_ENG_HTM.htm

Approval of women bishops clears its latest hurdle

From the Church Times in England-

LEGISLATION to bring in women bishops passed its first hurdle in General Synod when it was carried by a majority of about two-thirds during a debate on Wednesday morning.
The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, who chairs the legislative drafting group which drew up the proposals, moved that the Measure be considered for revision in committee.

He said that the debate marked a new stage in the process, and that “it is open season once again, and every thing is reviewable”. He also spoke of the difficulty faced by the drafting group in trying to strike a balance between prescription and flexibility.

He said the final code of practice would come from the House of Bishops, and warned that there would be searching and unwelcome dilemmas over the next 18 months. “Let none of us expect others to set aside convictions that they hold as deeply as our own. Instead, let each ask what it might mean for each of us to go the extra mile for our brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Christina Rees, from the group Women and the Church, expressed concerns over the proposal for specially nom inated suffragan sees, and questioned the relationship these bishops would have with the House of Bishops. She suggested that aspects of the provisions perpetuated the idea of a woman being a “flawed creation”.

http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=70407

Va.'s new Epsicopal bishop to face tough challenges

Some might say the Rev. Herman "Holly" Hollerith IV will land between a rock and a hard place when he's consecrated today as the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia.

In the national sphere, the Episcopal Church is facing a lasting rash of breakaway parishes that call it out of step with religious traditions on homosexuality - an accusation repeated by many of the denomination's peers overseas.

Meanwhile, the diocese is still mending after a corrosive in-house feud centering on the last permanent bishop, who was pushed into retirement by 2006.

Sandwiched in the middle will be Hollerith, 53, who was elected last fall by clergy and lay representatives to lead the diocese, which includes Hampton Roads.

Out of six candidates, he was the only one from inside the diocese. He led Bruton Parish Episcopal Church in Williamsburg for nine years.

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/02/vas-new-epsicopal-bishop-face-tough-challenges

General Synod Day Three

This the summary of day three from the General Synod in England

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/gsfeb120209am.html

and here-

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/gsfeb120209pm.html

Hallmark Channel to air Archbishop Desmond Tutu interview

"Odyssey Networks Presents" to Air Archbishop Desmond Tutu Interview on Hallmark Channel Sunday, February 15

New York- Odyssey Networks and The Fetzer Institute have partnered to air an in-depth interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu on "Odyssey Networks Presents" Sunday, February 15, at 7:00AM ET/PT on Hallmark Channel. Speaking to a crowd at Western Michigan University, Tutu discusses the transformative power of love and forgiveness and the impulse toward goodness in all of us. "Imagine! We are a gift to one another...the world is in our hands." are reminders Desmond Tutu shares in a conversation with Fetzer Institute President Tom Beech.

Beech explains what makes Archbishop Desmond Tutu such a remarkable figure: "Throughout his life, he has countered war with peace, injustice with justice, violence with truth and reconciliation, bitterness with forgiveness, fear with love, hope, and an unfailing belief in human goodness. He's done this with wisdom, humility, strength, perseverance and if you've ever been anywhere near him, you know that he's also done this with a warm sense of humor." Nobel Peace Prize winner Tutu is well-known for his participation in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and his work as Chairman for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/02/hallmark-channel-to-air-archbi.html

Anglican Bishops attend consultative meeting

Anglican Bishops from West Africa are attending a week’s Consultative Meeting to deliberate on specific projects to build deepened partnerships to inspire other Anglican and Episcopal Faith communities to care and empower each other in Kumasi.

The meeting under the auspices of Global Partners Trinity Grants Programme would in addition, strengthen ties within the Anglican Communion through mission-based partnerships.

It is being attended by Anglican Bishops from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Cameroon and areas of mission including the global support for Anglican partnership for development, eradication of extreme hunger and poverty and improving gender equality and empowerment of women.

http://news.myjoyonline.com/news/200902/26225.asp

Fort Worth Episcopalians engaged in struggle that’s not new in Christian history

From the Ft. Worth Star Telegram-

The good bishop has it wrong. Or so I think. Which bishop, you ask? That’s the point. Which bishop indeed?

As one who is not a part of the Episcopal side of the Christian family, I look on as a concerned outsider. But perhaps that is the best vantage point to hold in the midst of a family squabble (See: "Reorganized diocese elects new bishop," Feb. 8).

There is no doubt that the unity of the whole church includes both sides of this unhappy family, because our unity — not uniformity based on sameness — is based on God’s love manifested in our common life in Christ.

But after making this most basic of Christian affirmations, we must say that this dispute, as so many others, is not new to Christian history. In fact, it is not new to any other of the living religious traditions, either.

More than once in Christian history, disagreements and conflict have eventuated in schisms, some of which led to competitions for ecclesial authority.

Will the Holy See find its home in Italy or France? Is the center of authority lodged in Rome or Constantinople? And a favorite one for Anglicans: Is it Rome or Canterbury?

And now the runoff du jour: Will the real Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth please stand up, and with it, its bishop?

http://www.star-telegram.com/245/story/1199311.html

Church minister 'arrested on suspicion of child neglect after putting sons on chimney'

From the "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" Department- (and by the way, what is the "Open Episcopal Church?)

Mr Blake, an archbishop of the Open Episcopal Church, placed his children on top of his home and took pictures of them reading for a school project.

But worried neighbours called the police and Mr Blake, 52, was handcuffed before being taken away for questioning.

The pictures of his sons Nathan, eight, and Dominic, seven, were taken for a school book week competition themed on people reading in unusual places.

Mr Blake, a father of five, insisted the boys were used to rock climbing and adventure sports and were not worried by scaling the house in Welling, south east London.

He said the boys had climbed onto roof by clambering up onto a flat-roofed extension after he had attached them in a secure harness.

And he said the boys were already back in the house "full of excitement at what they had done", when police burst through the front door, marched upstairs and slapped him in handcuffs.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/4592739/Church-minister-arrested-on-suspicion-of-child-neglect-after-putting-sons-on-chimney.html

A Flock Divided

From Atlantic Monthly-

Rowan Williams—reader of Tolkien and prolific author, opponent of nuclear weapons and the Iraq War, Latin note-taker and distinguished scholar at Cambridge, husband and father—presides over 80 million Anglican believers around the world. Elected as archbishop of Canterbury in 2002, he is now, as Paul Elie describes in his March Atlantic piece, “The Velvet Reformation,” uniquely poised to guide his flock through a controversy that threatens to split it in two: whether to accept gay bishops and how to open the church to lesbian and gay members.

As the gay rights movement has come into its own over the past several decades, and as cultural norms and understanding of sexuality have evolved, many religions have had to grapple with how to address these changing frames of mind and experience. Even just within Christianity, there have been stark differences over how to address homosexuality: the Presbyterian and Congregationalist Churches, for example, have committed to embracing equal-rights for all, whereas Evangelical churches and the Roman Catholic Church have opted to hold gay people firmly at a distance. The Anglican Communion alone, Elie writes, “has sought to have it both ways: at once affirming traditional Christian notions of marriage and family, love and fidelity, and adapting them to the experiences of gay believers.”

But straddling such a tendentious fault line has not been easy. Schism seemed imminent last summer when the Anglican bishops met for their once-a-decade gathering in Canterbury. Shortly before the conference, a group of traditionalist bishops had held a rival meeting in Jerusalem, upset with what they perceived as Williams’s tolerance of gay clergy. Progressive church leaders expressed disappointment, too, after Williams decided not to invite Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, the only openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion, to the conference. In the end, despite a boycott by the Communion’s most conservative members, more than 600 bishops assembled and affirmed their unity and commitment to forging ahead on the issues facing the Church in the 21st century.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200902u/anglican-church

Summary of Day Two of The General Synod

The following links give a summary of the resolutions of the Church of England's General Synod for today February 11.

Here-

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/gsfeb110209am.html

and here-

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/gsfeb110209pm.html

Church of England will not see first female bishops until 2014

From the London Guardian-

The first women bishops in the Church of England are unlikely to be seen before 2014 after the Church of England today embarked on its most significant legislative exercise in two decades.

Members of its national assembly, General Synod, agreed to send the draft law allowing women to be ordained as bishops for amendments, a decision reached following two hours of debate and doubt.

Despite overcoming this hurdle, the first of many facing Synod regarding the matter, the Church of England would not welcome its first female bishop before 2014 at the earliest. The legislation process will see revisions bounced back and forth between Synod and committees.

There also remains the possibility that the legislation will be rejected in its final form, an outcome that would seriously undermine the prospect of women ever becoming bishops.

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3781727046490408959